Convertible shipping carton and self-feeder



June 12, 1951 w, c, RENDALL ET AL 2,556,707

CONVERTIBLE SHIPPING CARTON AND SELF-FEEDER Filed Dec. 31, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 THEIR ATTRN s,

June 12, 1951 w. c. RENDALL ET AL CONVERTIBLE SHIPPING CARTON AND SELF -FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 51, 1948 INVENTORS:

THEIR AT TORNE Patented June 12, 1951 C ONVERTIBLE SHIPPING CARTON AND SELF-FEEDER Warren 0. Rendall and Fred L. Rushing, Tampa,

Fla., assignors to Gaylord Container Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Maryland Application December 31, 1948, Serial No. 68,534

4 Claims.

This invention relates to shipping containers, particularly cartons of the kind used for shipping poultry feed. It has for its principal object to provide a strong and durable, simple and econom ical feed shipping carton which can be quickly and easily converted into an efficient trough type self-feeder. Another object is to provide the carton with a folded-blank self-feeding insert which is snugly held inside the sealed carton during shipment and has a hinged trough-forming portion adapted to be swung outwardly into operative position through an opening formed by slitting an adjacent wall of said carton. The invention consists in the convertible shipping carton and self-feeder and in the parts and combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a combination shipping and self-feeder carton embodying my invention, the lower portion of one side wall of the carton being shown broken away to disclose the self-feeder insert,

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to Fig. 1, showing the carton converted into a self-feeder,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view on the line 55 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the self-feeder insert,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of shipping carton and self-feeder, the upper end of the carton being shown broken .away to disclose the self-feeder insert; and

Fig. 8 is a view showing the carton of Fig. 6 turned on its side and converted into a self-feeder.

In the accompanying drawings, our invention is shown embodied in a conventional one-piece, folded-blank, multi-sided shipping carton comprising four single ply side walls I and two ply top and bottom or end walls 2formed by folding over upper and lower marginal half closure flaps 3 of said side walls. At each end of the carton, the half closure flaps 3 of two opposite side walls are folded inwardly towards each other into substantially edgewise abutting relation and the half closure flaps of the two other opposite side walls are folded over upon the two first mentioned flaps and are secured together along their abutting edges by a strip of adhesive tape 4. The overlapped closure flaps 3 may also be adhesively secured together flatwise.

The above carton is provided with a separate, one-piece, folded-blank, self-feeder insert A which is formed midway between two opposite side margins thereof into a tubular supporting rib 5 that extends from one to the other of the other two opposite side margins of said insert and has a flat bottom 6 and upwardly converging side walls 6a that meet along their upper edges. The insert also includes two half-bottom panels 1 that slope downwardly and outwardly from the meeting upper edges of the upwardly converging side walls 60. of the hollow rib 5 and have upstanding flaps 8 along their remote or free outer side margins that terminate in end tabs 9 that are bent inwardly at right angles to said flaps. The lower edges H) of the end tabs 9 incline upwardly from the upstanding side marginal flaps 8 in conformity with the slope of the half bottom panels 1 so as to seat thereon; and the upper edges of said end tabs are notched, as at H, to provide locking lugs or tongues I! at the inner upper corners thereof. The meeting edges of the half-bottom panels I are preferably covered by a strip of adhesive tape l3 that seals and prevents spreading of the joint between said edges.

'The self-feeder insert A is positioned horizontally within the carton and snugly fits therein with its hollow supporting rib 5 seated on the two ply bottom of the carton midway of two opposing side walls thereof and with its half -bottom panels 1 sloping downwardly to said side walls where they seat on said bottom with their upstanding marginal flaps 8 lying against said side walls and with the inturned end tabs 9 of said flaps lying against the other two opposite side walls of the carton and seated edgewise on said half-bottom panels. For the purpose hereinbefore described, the carton has lines of severance 14 marked on the outer surface of the two side walls engaged by the marginal flaps 8 of the insert,

said lines extending from end to end of said walls at or slightly above the level of the top edges of said flaps and thence downwardly alon the corners of the carton to the bottom thereof.

The carton is filled with poultry feed or other material that is to be dispensed therefrom and the top closed and sealed in the manner hereinbefore described for shipment to the ultimate purchaser. Upon receiving the sealed combination feed shipping and dispensing carton, the feeder places the carton, insert end down, where the poultry is to be fed and slits the two side walls the troughs.

along the lines l4 from end to end and downwardly at the vertical corners of the carton to the bottom thereof, thereby forming fiaps l5 that are hinged to the bottom of said carton and are adapted to swing outwardly and downwardly out of the planes of said walls to form openings [6 therein-opposite the upstanding marginal flaps 8 of the self-feeder insert A. The flaps 8 of the insert are then swung outwardly through the side wall openings [6 to form outstanding feed troughs I! along the lower portions of two pposite sides of the carton, the feed flowing by gravity from the carton into said troughs through said side wall openings. The trough-forming flaps 8 incline upwardly and outwardly at an angle of about 45 degrees, in which position the upstanding locking tongues I2 at the inner upper corners of the end tabs 9 of said fiaps abut against the side walls above the openings l therein and thus prevent. further outward swinging movement of said flaps. The fiaps l5 produced by severing the two opposite side walls of the carton remain attached tothe bottom thereof and extend upwardly along the undersides of the upwardly and outwardly inclined trough-forming flaps 8. When it is desired to discontinue-the feeding, the trough-forming flaps 8 of the selffeeder insert may be SWung inwardly through the openings 16 and returned to their original position and the flaps l5 cut from the sidewalls may be swung upwardly and inwardly into the planes of the latter and secured by adhesive tape, thus retaining said troughforming flaps in inoperative position.

The foregoing arrangement provides a strong .and durable, simple and economical feed shipping carton which may be quickly and easily converted into an efiicient trough type self -feeder whose feeding troughs may be returned to their original positions when it isdesired to render the feed inaccessible. The two ply bottom of the carton and the self-feeder insert therein strengthen the lower end portion thereof and protect the feed from fioor moisture and the flaps cut from the side walls of the carton. also protect the undersides of the trough-forming flaps from moisture and damage. The sloping false half-bottom panels of the insert are held in, inclined position by the tubular supporting rib thereof and facilitates movement of the feed into The insert has a snug fit in the carton and thus prevents sifting of the feed around the edges of. the insert; and the joints between, the meeting edges of said half bottom panel is covered by the adhesive sealing strip which prevents, sifting of the feed through said joint and sidewise spreading of said rib.

In the modified construction shown inFigs. 6 and 7, the self-feeder insert is positioned against one of the vertical side walls I of the carton so as to relieve the insert of the weight of thefeed durin shipment. In use, the modified carton is positioned with its insert engagbottom, a self-feeder false bottom insert snugly fitting within said carton and having a supporting rib located between two opposite side walls of said carton and seating on the bottom thereof, panels sloping downwardly on opposite sides of said rib to said bottom at said opposite sidewalls and flaps extending upwardly from the outer edges of said panels and seating against said opposite side walls, said flaps having end fianges extending inwardly alongside of the other two opposite side walls of said carton, said. two first mentioned opposite side walls being adapted to be out along said flaps to provide openings opposite the latter and said flaps being constructed and arranged to be swung outwardly through said openings at an upwardly and outwardly inclined angle to provide feed troughs outside of said two first mentioned opposite side walls.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said'end tabs-have portions thereof constructed and arranged to engage-said two first mentioned opposite side walls to limit the outward swinging movement of said trough-forming flaps.

3. The combination set forth. in claim 1 wherein said two first mentioned opposite side walls. are out along the upper edges of said flaps and thence downwardly to the bottom of the carton to provide flaps constructed and arranged to be swung outwardly to form said'openings and to extend upwardly and outwardlybeneathsaid flaps in the trough-forming positions thereof.

4. A. convertible shipping carton and selffeeder comprising four side walls, a top and a bottom, a self-feederfalse bottom insert-snugly fitting within said cartonbetween two opposite side walls and having opposite edge portions thereof seating on the bottom, the false bottom including panels sloping downwardly on. opposite sides from a longitudinally extending ridge to the carton bottomat oppositeside walls,-v flaps extending upwardly from theouter edges of said panels and seating against said opposite side walls, the flaps having end flanges extending inwardly of said carton, said two first mentioned opposite side walls being adapted to be out along said flaps to provide openings opposite the latter, and the said flaps being constructed and arranged to be swung outwardly through said openings at an upwardly and outwardly inclined angle to provide feed troughs outside of said two first mentioned opposite sidewalls.

WARREN C. RENDALL.

LVRUSHING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in: the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

1,000,624. Pexton Aug. 15,1911 1,228,824 Robison June. 5,. 1917 1,272,411 Fitzgerald July 16, 1918 1,341,893 Fitzgerald June 1, 1920 1,378,533 Fitzgerald May 17, 1921 1,905,992 Bogren Apr. 25,1933 2,233,488 Powell Mar. 4, 1941 2,340,976 Nevins, Jr Feb. 8,,1944 

